Minutes - April 4, 2016 - 3:05pm
CCSU FACULTY SENATE MEETING
Present: Andreoletti, C.; Antonucci, C.; Arena, J.; Bartone, M.; Best, F.; Bilisoly, R.; Bishop, J.; Boscarino, N.; Clapp, S.; D'Addio, D.; Emeagwali, G.; Emiliani, B.; Fothergill, W.; Gamache, J.; Garcia-Bowen, M.; Ghodsi, R.; Grasso, L.; Hamilton, H.; Horan, M.; Jackson, M.; Kapper, M.; Karpuk, P.; Kean, K.; Kim, Y.; King, A.; Kullgren, A.; Larsen, K.; Latour, F.; Lim, K.; LoGiudice, S.; Martin-Troy, K.; McGuire, M.; Mejia, G.; Mongillo, M.; Nelson, W.; Paolino, J.; Pearson, F.; Phillips, E.; Prozzo, J.; Ragusett, J.; Sadanand, N.; Santoro, K.; Simmons, R.; Siporin, R.; Sohn, Y.; Spear, E.; Styrczula, S.; Sweeney, D.; Tellier, A.; Williams, C.; Wolff, R.; Wood, R.
Ex-officio: Adair, S.; Lovitt, C
Parliamentarian: Dimmick, C.
President of the Senate: Cohen, S.
Guests: Shelly Jones (Mathematical Sciences); Yvonne Kirby (OIRA); Martha Kruy (Library); Jim Mulrooney (Academic Assessment Committee); Thomas Rein (Anthropology); Janice Reska (CACE)
1. Minutes
- Approved unanimously
2. Announcements:
a. AAUP President (M. A. Mahony)
- No announcements.
b. SUOAF-AFSCME President (L. Bigelow)
- No announcements.
c. SGA (e-mail from C. Fox)
- SGA Executive Board Elections are complete, future President is Jahmil Effend, VP is Chris Cappiello, Treasurer is Brendan Kruh. They will wait to take office until after the General Senate elections.
- The General Senate elections are happening now, and we should be seeing campaign flyers around. Voting will begin in two weeks.
- The CCSU SGA Good Neighbor Campaign is happening again this year. It will be on April 12 starting at 4pm in the Student Center Circle and surrounding areas of New Britain. It is a chance for students to introduce themselves to their surrounding neighbors and help get involved in community concerns. Individual students as well as clubs and organizations are able to volunteer and participate. Please encourage your students to do so!
d. FAC to the Board of Regents (S. Adair)
- The BOR has approved a tuition increase of 5% for CSU students. The tuition increase is caused by a decline in state support (it assumes no salary increases).
- A proposed shared governance award has passed the Academic and Student Affairs Committee of the BOR.
- Don't forget the FAC-sponsored systemwide conference on April 8. There is room for 300 people, and over 200 people have signed up already. Thomas Bailey, the Director of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University (CCRC), will be the keynote speaker.
e. President of the Senate (S. Cohen)
- The Advisory Committee for the Presidential Search has two spots for the Faculty Senate. President Cohen wishes to represent the Senate, and will ask faculty members for other nominees. Nominees must be able to work over the summer. An e-mail will be sent to the whole faculty, seeking nominations by April 8.
3. Elections of Faculty Senate President, Vice President, and Secretary for the 2016-18 term
- Stephen Cohen reelected President, unanimously
- Paul Karpuk reelected Vice President, unanimously
- Frederic Latour reelected Secretary, unanimously
4. Committee Reports:
a. Community Engagement Committee (R. Simmons)
- Evaluation guidelines proposal - for information, not for action at this meeting
- The document is intended as guidance for faculty members who want to include Community Engagement in their renewal/tenure/promotion portfolio. AAUP has looked at it for compliance with the Contract; this does not mean that AAUP supports or opposes adoption of the document.
- The Senate discussed what should be done with this document: appendix to the P&T policy, standalone document on the Senate P&T website, or document that various departments could adopt or adapt to their needs?
- Professor Broadus-Garcia asked whether the document is based on the AAC&U value rubrics for civic engagement; Provost Lovitt said that both are based on the Carnegie Foundation guidelines.
- Approved unanimously
b. Curriculum Committee (M. Jackson)
5. New Business:
a. SGA resolution on availability of course syllabi
- The Registrar's Office stated that implementing this proposal on Banner would be logistically impossible.
- Faculty members stated that the SGA should ask departments to voluntarily post their syllabi on their website.
- Faculty members said that posting syllabi months in advance would be misleading, because syllabi may change before the beginning of the semester.
- Faculty members said that preparing syllabi and posting them before registration would be a significant burden, because it would be done around advising season, and many faculty members are advising dozens of students for the next semester. It would also be a burden for part-time faculty.
- Motion (Wolff/Fothergill): To postpone to the next meeting, hoping that an SGA representative will be available.
- Approved unanimously
b. Proposed amendment to Policy on Academic Assessment
- Academic Assessment Committee response
- Faculty members asked why it is so important to have annual assessment reports, even though NEASC only requires periodic review. Academic Assessment Committee representatives said that it is a "best practice", and that it is difficult to make assessment decisions without an annual review.
- Faculty members said that, while assessment is important, the current policy represents a burden for small departments with large numbers of programs. For those programs, annual assessment reports seem like meaningless bureaucracy.
- Other faculty members said that the timing of this proposal is poor, and we should review our assessment policy after our NEASC review, not before.
- Academic Assessment Committee members said that, if the proposal passes, all departments will submit assessment reports every 5 years, since that would be the minimum required.
- Motion (Best): To postpone to the next meeting, pending revision, in an attempt to find a compromise solution that would be acceptable to the proposers and to the Academic Assessment Committee.
- Approved (1 senator approved)
c. Academic Standards Committee (F. Latour)
- Declaration of Major Policy proposal
- Approved unanimously
6. Adjournment
- The meeting adjourned at 5:11pm.